


The Legitimacy of Prince Lyrics

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Drama, Friendship, M/M, Romance, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 12:07:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8101804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: “My suit is ready, my shoes are ready; I'm going to stop shaving in a week so I can have a nice scruff growth.  Trevor is all about my scruff growth.”





	

“Yes, Carmen?” Rafael picked up the phone on his desk.

“Olivia Benson is out here to see you.”

“Send her in.”

Olivia walked into the ADA’s office as Rafael was taking his feet off the desk. He put the legal pad down and smiled at her. She looked tired, a little frustrated; he hoped that frustration wouldn’t be aimed in his direction. It had been a long day. A long evening was not on his to-do list.

“I need two large glasses of wine and some food, maybe calamari.” She said.

“I thought you were slowing down on the wine.” 

“I have been, for months. Which is why tonight I need two large glasses. Let's have a sidebar…I miss our sidebars.”

“We've been at each other’s throats a bit lately.” Rafael said.

“I hate that the work does that to us.”

Actually the work only did it to her but again, Barba wasn’t in the mood for a fight. Olivia Benson was one of the most awesome people he knew. He loved having her in his life as a friend. She was passionate and stubborn and fierce. 

But sometimes she didn’t know when to pump her brakes and quit. Rafael was the same, it was one of many things they had in common. It was also one of the reasons why they would clash sometimes. He had a job to do, so did she, and even though they were on the same side that didn’t mean they were working for the same team.

“Where would you like to go?” he asked.

“I don’t want to disturb you if you're working on anything.” Liv held up her hands. “I can go alone but I hate drinking alone. And Ed is probably working a little later than usual tonight; he's got a ton of cases on his desk.”

“How is the Conviction Integrity Unit going?”

“It’s fascinating work. I think it’s a good fit for him even though it keeps him busy. I miss him and I don’t even know how to tell him. Why am I the worst at this?”

“I'm sure you're not the worst. I've only had two boyfriends in the past decade and they were the same guy. I was actually working on wedding vows when you arrived.”

“I didn’t know you and Trevor were doing your own vows.” Liv said.

“It’s important to him. Not that it isn't important to me, but I just want to get married. Liv, I swear if I could snap my fingers and we could just be married I would've done it the night I proposed. This kind of thing can be so emotionally draining. What am I even supposed to say? I don’t feel comfortable just letting the whole world listen to how much Trevor means to me.”

“You invited 60 people to your wedding, Barba. That’s less than one one hundredth of a percent of the New York population.”

“Your math might be slightly askew.” Rafael stood up from his desk. “I could use a drink but I need to write these vows.”

“I shouldn’t take you away from that. This is probably the first evening in a few weeks that you’ve had time.”

“Trevor is having dinner with a client tonight. He's one of his biggest, wealthiest clients. Also in attendance at this dinner will be the accountant and the eldest daughter of said client. Very rich man’s granddaughter is getting married this weekend and they have to decide how much money and property to bestow on the couple.”

“First world problems.” Olivia said.

“Something like that. We could have some dinner if you want. Do you have a little time or do you need to be somewhere?”

“I am somewhere, Counselor.”

“No need to sweet talk me.”

“It’s been a while since I sweet talked you.”

“Tell me about it.”

“C'mon,” Liv held out her hands. “Just you and me tonight. No work, no tension, none of that. We’ll have some food and talk about things that make us happy.”

“I had a dream about McSteamy the other night.” Rafael said. He walked around the desk and took her hands. “That made me pretty happy. Trevor has been watching Grey’s Anatomy to come down from his hectic days. He doesn’t want to be stressed about anything leading up to the wedding.”

“That’s a good plan. Let's see what we can do for his future husband.”

“I'm putting myself in your capable hands, Lieutenant. Please don’t let me regret it.”

***

“Why don’t you just tell me where you're going on your honeymoon.” Liv popped a piece of calamari in her mouth.

“It’s a surprise.” Rafael said.

“It doesn’t have to be for me…I'm not going. Give me a hint.”

“I’ll tell you this much. We’re going to two places. Trevor doesn’t know that yet but he will soon enough. One is warm and one is seasonal. That’s all I'm saying.”

“He's going to be so thrilled.”

“After Paris I guess where you might end up on a honeymoon seems like small potatoes, huh?”

Rafael had taken Liv to Medici’s. They specialized in Mediterranean Italian cuisine. He was enjoying a giant glass of Shiraz with a plate of filet mignon and five cheese rigatoni. After the day he had the food and wine was like a gift to his soul. 

A sidebar was always a good idea. Liv was eating some of the best calamari in the city. She drank a glass of Shiraz as well but thought she would try something different for her second glass. There were so many wines to choose from; they requested the wine list be left on the table.

“As if Ed and I are really going to have time for a honeymoon. Besides, it might be a while before we do something like that.”

“Get married? I thought he asked.”

“He did, and it was so sweet but…it’s a long story.”

“Tell me. I mean only if you want to. There's no pressure but sometimes you hold these things inside until you explode and you don’t have to. I'm always here to listen.”

“I don’t know if I'm ready.” Liv said. “I want to be ready, I want it to be something so wonderful but life is a bit topsy-turvy right now.”

“If you wait until everything is perfect it’s never going to happen. Nothing is perfect, Liv.”

“Don’t I deserve a perfect moment though?”

“Of course you do.” he nodded. “When you and Ed are standing in front of God and whatever loved ones you choose, that will be perfect. You love him, right?”

“Yes, I love him. It’s more complicated than that.”

“I'm listening.”

Liv sighed. Maybe she did need to talk about it with someone. It just wasn’t easy to discuss. How long was she going to use that as an excuse? Technically, she was engaged. She also wasn’t getting any younger. 

Not that that was a good reason to jump into something serious like marriage without a lot of thought. Liv had never been married before. She wanted it to be right, she wanted to make sure it was her first and last. She wanted one part of the fantasy to be true.

“This isn't about Ed and any history we may have had when he was IAB. I've let so much of that go. That was just two people doing their jobs and not knowing each other as anything but cops. I just…I have the worst luck with men. It’s not as if I had a quality example. 

“My mother never had a single healthy relationship and I see people who abuse and batter women all day long at my job. I've had good boyfriends and bad boyfriends. I don’t want a bad husband Barba, and that’s not on Ed. This is on me. It’s something I have to work out inside of me.”

“Well Ed is a great dad and a good guy. Hell, I never thought I would be saying it but he is. And I think you two are right for each other. I'm not saying that letting go of history is an easy thing but it’s the right thing. I want you to be happy.”

“Thanks.” She smiled. “We’re busy, but we are happy. I just have some kinks to work out that’s all. But what about you, nine more days.”

“Nine more days.” Rafael repeated. “My suit is ready, my shoes are ready; I'm going to stop shaving in a week so I can have a nice scruff growth. Trevor is all about my scruff growth. I don’t know if I ever told you but when we met I was sporting a beard. I was going through my Harvard intellectual phase.”

“Why did you get rid of the beard?” Liv asked.

“It’s discouraged in the DA’s office. Not banned outright, but discouraged. I think they did some study in the 80s and it was found that juries trusted lawyers less when they had facial hair. Villains usually wear mustaches and beards in the movies and we all know people watch too many movies and think they're realistic. So I hadn’t been working in Brooklyn long when I shaved it. But I had it when we met. That was back when Trevor was usually sporting a baby face.”

“It’s been a long time for you two.”

“Once I fell in love with Trevor, I never loved anyone else. Even after we broke up, I just couldn’t. Because I knew deep down that it was always going to be him. At the time I was fine with being a celibate, miserable fool. Not miserable because I was celibate, mind you, but because I ruined the best relationship I'd ever had. I get to make up for that in nine days.”

“So let's have a toast.” Liv held up her wineglass. “To taking our time and getting it right.”

“Hear, hear.”

Rafael sipped his wine and smiled. His situation with Trevor wasn’t quite the same as Liv’s situation with Ed but he understood what she was saying. It did take time to let your guard down. It took time to shake the past and look forward to the future. It took time to trust yourself to make the right decision when you’d made the wrong one more than once. Relationships could be the most wonderful and most agonizing thing a person experienced. Olivia had enough agony; he wanted something better for her and saw with his own eyes she had it with Ed. Rafael wasn’t going to push to try to convince her but he wondered what it would take to make her see.

***

“I really missed you today.” Rafael took off his suit jacket. He loosened his tie, unbuttoned the top button on his dress shirt, and slipped out of his suspenders. Then he lifted Trevor’s long legs and sat down on the couch. Trevor’s legs relaxed over his lap.

“You are so sweet.” Trevor wrapped his long arms around Rafael’s neck and pulled him into a sweet kiss.

“How was dinner?”

“We were at Ed’s Lobster Bar, Gene loves that place. I had the lobster burger and it was truly delicious. I swear, it tastes different every time we go there.”

“I had Italian tonight.” Rafael said. “Liv wanted calamari and wine so we went to Medici.”

“You two are alright, right?” Trevor stroked his fingers through Rafael’s hair.

“We’re fine. She didn’t have the best day and just wanted to talk it out. You taste like lobster.” He kissed him again. “Mmm.”

“I was waiting for you to walk the dogs. You want to relax a little before going out?”

“Yes.” Rafael sighed and leaned against his fiancé. “Trev?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you written your vows yet?”

“I have for the most part but I'm tweaking them daily. I should probably just leave it alone; I think I have what I need.”

“I've written nothing.” Rafael said.

“You have a little time.”

“I have nine days. Every time I sit and stare at the blank legal pad the only thing that comes to my mind are Prince lyrics. In addition to that being plagiarism, I don’t think our loved ones want to hear me recite Prince lyrics at our wedding.”

“I would be so happy if you recited Prince lyrics to me at our wedding.” Trevor smiled.

“Remind me again why we chose to write our own vows anyway? There are perfectly good vows the priest can dig up for us.”

“We’re doing a combination of both. We’ll have the traditional vows but take a few moments to speak from the heart. Just speak from your heart, Rafael.”

If only it were that easy. He wanted the entire world to know how much he loved Trevor Langan. Even though Rafael wasn’t one for pomp and ceremony, he was looking forward to being married. For the longest time he thought he didn’t want to be married. Didn’t want to settle down, have the old ball and chain, et cetera, et cetera. 

How many wedding had he gone to after college and law school as acquaintances paired off like sheep to slaughter? He mostly attended for the open bar and because he didn’t want to become that friend, the one who never showed up for anything. Until he stopped showing up for most things. If one-tenth of those couples felt what he and Trevor felt than Rafael was prepared to stand and tell everyone that he was wrong. 

What he wasn’t prepared to do was stand and tell everyone how he felt about Trevor. Rafael Barba was a private man. He no longer worried that people would shun or dislike him because his partner was a man. That wasn’t the issue. But his heart, and what consumed it, he didn’t feel as if that was for everyone to hear.

“I’ll try.” He mumbled. “I'm doing this for you.”

“I know you are, and I love you. I love you very much.”

Rafael smiled, taking Trevor’s face into his hands. Nine more days. Nothing was going to change. They already shared a home and two great dogs. They had their dream come true. But Trevor had always wanted a wedding. So Rafael would give him this one thing he wanted and hoped it could equate all the things Trevor had given him over the years.

***


End file.
